KMB works extraordinary, impressive and quite moving: Manu S Pillai

Kochi / January 7, 2026

Kochi, Jan 7: Writer and historian Manu S Pillai, who visited the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025 (KMB) today, said the works on display are “quite extraordinary, very impressive, and quite moving.”

Manu, a winner of Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, said he chose a weekday for a relaxed viewing. “There is a lot to see. I have only done 40 per cent of the venues. I must see the venues on Bazaar Street. There were some familiar names and I knew what to expect, but other names, they all delivered. I liked Bhasha Chakrabarti’s work and Keralite artist Smitha Babu, whose work I always enjoy,” he pointed out.

He believes that one should come with an open mind, expect to be surprised, some things may intimidate, “but if you refer to the wall notes and see, it falls in place.”

A group of 30 IFS officers, of the current batch, also explored the art works at the Biennale venues, including Coir Godown and Director’s Bungalow in Aspinwall House, Fort Kochi.

Vejayanantham T R from Tamil Nadu, representing the group, said, “I have been to many art exhibitions, but the Biennale is a new experience. The collective effort in the first work is amazing. This is the first time I am seeing a sculptor, a painter and people working with documentary filmmaking, painting, and multimedia come together in one place.”

The works are thought-provoking and have shown the way to the future. The group was impressed by the way artists have portrayed various cultures together in a single place.

“It was amazing. And one space where I was really impressed was the artist’s attempt to connect quilt-makers from Karnataka and Alabama singing local songs as they threaded colours, cultures and stories through their work,” said Vejayanantham, referring to Bhasha Chakrabarti’s artwork.

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